Public Sector Energy Targets

This year we saw over 600 public representatives attend the annual SEAI Public Sector conference in UCD. This impressive turn out demonstrates the public sectors commitment to their energy efficiency goals.

The main reason we have these gatherings is to share energy efficiency best practice and success stories within the sector. Each year public sector bodies report to SEAI on their annual energy usage. This helps us determine the progress we are making within the public sector in relation to energy efficiency and the areas we need to focus on.

Public bodies and government departments have saved over €1 billion on energy spend and avoided 3.6 million tonnes of CO₂ emissions since 2009 making them 24% more energy efficient today.

This year our focus at the conference  was on driving the public sector beyond the Government's energy efficiency target of 33% by 2020. The Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment, Richard Bruton attended along with invited guest speakers. The Minister acknowledged the significant improvements we have seen in the public sector so far but noted that we still have more to do.

For example, 10% of public bodies and 45% of schools are showing no improvement and  of those who have shown improvement; nearly a quarter have achieved less than a 10% improvement.

The Conference gave SEAI the opportunity to talk to public body managers face to face and better understand what constraints are holding teams back. We held a number of smaller workshops where attendees learned about best practice in energy efficiency action including progressing project pipelines, advanced building and facility upgrades, energy awareness and behaviour change.

We also offered advice on how to implement structured energy management, all of which can deliver energy and cost savings to the sector. So far twenty-five public bodies are already certified to the international standard on energy management, ISO 50001, and are excelling in energy efficiency.